


DEATH VALLEY

by Jackieshalom02



Category: The Vampire Diaries & Related Fandoms, The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Autism Spectrum, BAMF Caroline Forbes, Blood Drinking, Blood and Torture, Dark Character, Eventual Bonnie Bennett/Damon Salvatore, F/M, Friendship, Hellhounds, Original Female Character(s) - Freeform, Platonic Relationships, Protective Elijah Mikaelson, Slow Burn, Slow Romance, Stuttering, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Vampires, Werewolves, Witches
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2020-11-03
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:53:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26793184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jackieshalom02/pseuds/Jackieshalom02
Summary: "Well, well, well, if it isn't my old friend. The dawning realisation I screwed up real bad."The Vampire DiariesMultiple Characters x Fem!oc(Endgame is Elijah Mikaelson x Fem!oc.)Season 1-5Slow Burn.
Relationships: Damon Salvatore/Stefan Salvatore/Original Character(s), Elijah Mikaelson/Original Female Character(s), Klaus Mikaelson/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 42





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> INTRODUCTION

Aurora Roger's wasn't afraid of death. Okay, that's a bit of an exaggeration, she was scared of death obviously, no one wanted to die, especially her, no matter how much she might of joked about it. A better term would be that she respected death, after all, everyone dies in the end, it was a simple part of life, the ending.

When your time was up, it was up.

So, when her head went underwater, her body floating, with only the seat-belt to keep her steady, she kept that mantra in mind. Even though she was terrified, even though she could feel the pressure building inside her head, begging for air that only water would fill. She couldn't be afraid of death, after all, it was just doing what it did, waiting with a patient hand as she struggled and begged for more time.

She had thought about her friends, her family, while being conscious just enough to see the body next to her getting yanked out of the car, and floating up with someone else, to safely, getting a second chance to live her life while Aurora's was running out. For a moment she had wanted to cry, that it wasn't fair, why not her? She knew it was selfish but she was just a teenager, just a kid, isn't that what they were supposed to be?

With black spot taunting her vision, and her head pounding in rhythm with her heart, she finally allowed herself to fall into unconscious, knowing she couldn't hold it any longer, no matter how much she tried. The last thing she saw, before it all went black, was the burning orange eyes of something staring back at her in the rear-view mirror, hungry and waiting and alight with deadly fire.

○

☆

○

_**"I WANNA' SEE YOUR ANIMAL SIDE."** _


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I don't think living is supposed to be this hard."

**Flashing lights.** **Warm** **laughs turned to gurgling screams. Water drowning out the noises from up above, filling** **her** **ears, her mouth and slowly** **dragging** **her down, down, down. Pain, fear, black spots** **taunting** **her vision. Glowing orange eyes, that** **looked** **hungry, no, that looked starving. Waking to the decaying forest underneath her. Red and blue, police sirens. She should be** **dead** **.**

**Why wasn't she dead?**

Bruised eyes snapped open, as Aurora Roger's shot up, body lurching and eyelashes fluttering sluggishly as the blaring alarm from her phone rang out throughout the darkness of her bedroom, waking her from her fruitless sleep of tragedy and trauma. 

She stared ahead of herself for a few moments, catching her breath and willing the tears away before letting out a zombie-like groan, reaching a hand up to rub the sleep from her eye tiredly, before she twisted her body around and grabbed the phone from her nightstand, hissing at the bright light as she pressed 'mute' with shaking fingers. 

It was Monday. And that meant one thing. School. Or, better known as _hell_ for the average teenager.

Aurora tossed the heavy duvet from her sweaty body with a dramatic moan, turning her head to the side and catching a whiff of herself, grimacing in disgust. She smelt _stale_. And that was putting it mildly. The young girl stood up, drinking her nose before making her way to her shower, not bothering to make the bed behind her.

After managing to peel her drenched and sticky clothes from her body and throwing them in the washing basket, she stepping into the white marble, sliding the glass door shut behind her and turning the shower on, cursing under her breath as she was assaulted with it's hot spray, body racking into shivers, eyes clenching shut as the water brushed off her skin, dripping down into the open plug below.

Flashes came past her aching eyes, battering against the inside of her head as she tried to shut them out, trying to keep her breath steady. Trying not to remember - **drowning, drowning, drowning.**

She slathered soap into her hands absent-mindlessly, rubbing until it turned into sudds and bubbles, then skimmed her hands down her body gently, washing away the nightmares of the night, taking deep, steadying breaths as she did so.

When Aurora was done, she stepped out of the glass box, hissing as her feet made contact with the cold floor underneath her, frantically grabbing her pink fluffy robe hanging on the door and wrapping herself in it, tying it together with fumbling fingers, before making her way to the steamed up mirror, grabbing her toothbrush and swiping a hand across it, trying to get a better look at herself.

**Glowing** **orange** **eyes, hungry** **and** **alight with deadly fire.**

The toothbrush clattered to the floor as she stumbled backwards, gasping for breath and clutching her chest, eyes fluttering shut as her heart pounded in time with her head. It had been a figment of her imagination, she repeated to herself, keeping her eyes clenched tightly. A reaction to a traumatic event in which you imagined something monsterus, to take away from the horror happening in front of you.

The explanation never made her feel better, mainly because she never _actually_ believed it.

So instead she just ran out of the bathroom, deciding to brush her teeth later, even though it felt _wrong_ and focused on getting dressed, stubbornly avoiding looking into her reflections again as she grabbed her favourite black skirt and tucked her pink sweater inside it, not checking to see of it looked acceptable before walking down the spiral stairs, resisting the urge to hop on the banister and slide down it like she used to when she was younger, however ever since she'd slipped and cracked her head open, her father had been adamant on her just _walking_ like a _normal_ person.

Speak of the devil, Aurora thought, strolling into the kitchen to find her dad, Ryan Roger's, leaning against the counter, coffee mug in hand as he read from the paper idly, glasses hanging low on his nose as he took a tentative sip, the curtains still drawn and lights dimmed low she she wouldn't have a sensory overload when she walked down for breakfast.

"H-hu-hey, dad." She instantly closed her eyes in frustration as the words escaped her, face twisting into a scowl as she grinded her teeth together, feeling a sting behind her eyes that warned her on incoming tears.

Of _course_ , she thought to herself, like her morning couldn't get any better.

"Hey honey, you had another nightmare?" He asked sympathetically, closing his paper and pushing it off to the side as he looked at his daughter with fatherly concern shining in his deep brown eyes. When she was four, Aurora had developed a speech impediment, a stutter, which came and went as she got older. It had seemed to finally tamper down when she turned fourteen, but after the crash, it had started to get more and more frequent, the most common being _after_ she had a nightmare.

"I'm s-suh-sorry. I thought it was getting b-buh-better." Aurora mumbled, rubbing her fingers across the palm of her hand in quick succession on both hands, focusing on the feeling of it as her dad smiled at her gently, wanting to hug her but knowing she wasn't in the right mind space at that moment in time.

"Hey don't stress yourself, you're doing great. Your breakfast is by the toaster and your sunglasses and headphones are already in your bag, kiddo."

She smiled at him shakily, breath coming out in little pants as her heart continued to pound inside her chest quickly, feeling as thought it was about to burst for no other reason at all except to remind her that she was alive. The young girl sat at the table, tucking a stool under her and wrapping her ankle around the end of it, biting into her toast and chewing.

"You're getting a lift from Caroline today, aren't you?" Her dad asked, picking his mug up once again to take a sip of his coffee. The cup was actually one of his most prized possessions, a gift from when she was younger that she and Caroline had saved for weeks to buy for him, a star wars mug that had faded with age. They had used the left over money to buy Caroline's mum, Liz, a box of chocolates, which, in the end they ended up eating half of.

"Y-yes, I'm a b-buh-bit nervous, though." She replied, rubbing her fingers across her palm again anxiously once more, licking her suddenly dry lips at the thought of getting into another car. Caroline meant well, she always did, but that didn't mean what she thought was helpful was actually helpful in the slightest.

"That's understandable, but you know Caroline will be careful, she's carrying precious cargo." He winked as Aurora giggled, the small dimple in her left cheek proudly showing itself off for the first time since she had woken up.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door, well, less of a knock and more of a gentle tapping and Aurora instantly spun around in her seat, eyes going wide as she grinned, recognising the familiar sound before she sprinted towards the door, clapping her hands excitedly where, sure enough, Caroline Forbes stood on the other end, smiling brightly before lunging herself forward, wrapping her freckled arms around Aurora's neck and squealing, squeezing the girl before letting her go.

"Hey 'Roro, I know I'm early but it's such a pretty day out that I thought we could walk to school, I _even_ bought you some new sunglasses so that we can _matchhh._ " The blonde-haired beauty sang, wiggling her eyebrows and shimmering her shoulders, rummaging into her handbag for a few moments, and finally pulling her hand back out to give Aurora the pink glasses she'd bought for her, before pulling out some yellow ones that looked exactly the same.

"Do you like them?" Caroline asked, biting her bottom lip to hide her smile, bringing her clasped hands in front of her face, body shaking in excitement as she awaited her best friends answer.

"I don't know, care-bear. I've s-suh-seen nicer." Aurora teased with a grin, laughing when the blonde gasped dramatically and slapped her shoulder, reaching down to try and grab the pink sunglasses out of her hand with a playful glare. "Well if you're going to be ungrateful, I'll just take them back." She said, digging her long fingers in Aurora's side as she squealed, before doing it back the the blonde as she yelped and laughed, slapping each-others hands away.

"Girls! Really? On the porch?"

The two sprung away from each other, their eyes bright with mirth and cheeks flustered, it had always been like that with the two of them, playful and childlike, never having to worry about their image when it was just the two of them. Caroline was never someone's second choice, while Aurora wasn't just the 'weird' kid.

A perfect arrangement that would last a lifetime.   
_________________________________________________

The walk to school had been quick, their arms linked together as Caroline told her friend all of the latest gossip of their peers, about her cheerleading schedule, who was sleeping with who, what the latest drama's were, who's parents were having difficulties ect ect, even though she knew Aurora didn't care for such things, but would listen to her ramble away without a care in the world.

When Mystic falls high-school came into view, the two came to a stop, glaring at it with unimpressed stares, before giving each other disgusted looks. "D-do we really have to go?"

"What could we do?" Caroline asked, beginning to walk towards it while dragging her friend behind her, who was stubbornly trying to dig her heels into the floor to stop her, smiling all the while, eyes shining playfully. "We could always m-muh-make a suicide p-pact?"

" _Don't_ tempt me." Caroline said through clenched teeth, smiling brightly when they walked past a group of teens that all called out their hello's to the blonde. Aurora giggled to herself, before unlinking their arms so she could wrap her arm around her waist instead, as Caroline wrapped her freckled one around her shoulders with a sigh.

They walked into the school, Aurora strolling past the student body without sparing them a glance, trying not to wince at the assault on her ears as she listened to them all talking and shouting to each other in the halls, all the while Caroline conversed with anyone and everyone who stopped to talk to her, keeping an arm tight around her shorter friends shoulder who just refrained from rolling her eyes.

Suddenly, Caroline squealed, clapping her hands together excitedly as she caught sight of someone over her friends shoulder, giving Aurora a little shake by her side. "Do you trust me?" The blonde asked with a bright grin as Aurora paused, tapping her fingers against her chin in mock-thought.

"With that look on your face? N-never."

The cheerleader rolled her baby-blue eyes, before twisting her friend around and covering her eyes, beginning to lead her thought the crowds as Aurora giggled and tried to pry her warm and soft hands away from her face, her cheeks flushed. They came to a stop god knows where, Caroline biting her lip to taper down her bright grin before removing her hands.

It only took Aurora a moment to see what Caroline had led her to, Bonnie Bennetts chocolate brown curls facing away from her, and that was all she needed to run the rest of the way, wrapping her arms around the unsuspecting girls back as she let out a loud 'oof' as the air was knocked out of her, turning in the strangers grip before her hazel eyes went wide.

"Roro!" Bonnie laughed, twirling in her grip so she could replicate the affection been given, winding her long arms around her shoulders and jumping up and down excitedly. A bright smile lighting her face beautifully.

The two talked aminatedly, trying to fill the other on what they'd done since they last saw each other, hands waving and gesturing before suddenly remembering there was another being standing next to them when Caroline reached forward and hugged her.

"Elena. Oh, my god." She practically yelled, holding the girl at arms length, looking her up and down.

"How are you? Oh, it's so good to see you. How is she? Is she good?" She asked, turning to look at Bonnie, knowing the dark-haired girl had spent more time with her then she had, she'd been too busy checking on Aurora.

"Caroline, I'm right here. And I'm fine. Thank you." Elena said, looking at the girl resisting the urge to roll her eyes and exchanging looks with Bonnie, pulling a face. Aurora frowned watching them, before walking back over to the blonde and linking arms with her again, refusing to let her feel left out.

"Hey, Aurora."

"Hey, E-elena." The girl replied awkwardly, rubbing her fingers along her palm roughly, glancing up to meet her eyes before staring at the floor as their friends looked at each other, feeling the tension. It had been...strange between the two of them ever since the crash, ever since Elena offered her friend a lift home, only for the most traumatic event of their young lives to take place.

It was quiet, all of them struggling to find something to say, before Caroline got sick of it, tugging her friend closer to her, before smiling at the other two brightly, though, they could all tell it looked slightly fake. "Okay, there's Trini so I guess we'll see you guys later?" She asked, before already walking away, not giving them the chance to reply.

"You, are _sooooo_ lucky to have me." The blonde-haired beauty sung, smiling down at her friend who rolled her eyes in response.  
_________________________________________________

Groaning under her breath, Aurora smashed the side of her locker in frustration, wincing at the loud clang that echoed, the hall-ways empty of the student body, no doubt having gone to _their_ classes, all the while she was stuck with a stubborn locker that refused to open. This had happened last year too, now that she remembered, and the young girl was starting to think a conspiracy was afoot.

"Open up you p-puh-piece of crap! What have I e-ever done to you." She snapped, frustration making her face appear flushed and hair frazzled due to the constant tugging of it. This was ridiculous, she was almost a full five minutes late to class.

"Ugh!" She shouted, punching it again, but realising it wasn't as relieving as she though and instead gave it a rough kick, muttering curses and insults under her breath all the while.

"Uh, are you alright?"

A voice rang out through the silence, well, if you pretended you couldn't hear the young girl spiraling into a meltdown over a locker. Aurora let out a frightened squeak, spinning around and meeting the warm emerald eyes of the new boy in school who was sending almost every girl (and a few boys) into cardiac arrest whenever they caught sight of him.

Caroline had already told her his name, but, unfortunately for her, Caroline tells her alot of things, and this was one of the things lost on her.

"Mu-my stupid locker won't open."

"Are you sure it's yours?" He asked, quirking a a brow and looking at the slightly dented metal of the locker with amusement shining in his eyes, wondering just how long the girl had been standing there, beating up _his_ locker. Not that she knew that of course, at least he hoped she didn't.

"Yes, it just hu-hates me."

"Really? Because I'm pretty sure-" He walked over to the locker, sending the girl a small smirk before turning his shoulder so she couldn't see what he was doing, before stepping back to show it now opened as she stared at it, wide-eyed. "-That _that_ isn't the case."

"How did you do that?"

"Because _I_ have the right locker combination." He finally told her, grinning wildly as he looked down at the cute girl in front of him, who's eyebrows had furrowed in confusion for a few moments before the realisation hit her, mouth forming a perfect 'o' before she groaned, rubbing a hand down her face with a sigh.

"Oh...Well, n-nu-now I feel stupid."

"Don't, if could happen to anyone. Our locker numbers just got mixed up is all."

She smiled, bobbing her head and pursing her lips before she started to giggle, the pretty boy beside her joining her, fingers tucked under the strap of his backpack, the back of his hand brushing against the dark leather of his jacket as he looked at the familar girl, questions burning in his chest that he couldn't ask. Wouldn't ask.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot to introduce m-muh-myself, I'm Aurora Rogers."

"Hello Aurora, I'm Stefan, Stefan Salvatore." He said, reaching his free hand across the space between them and shaking the girls small hand into his own, surprised at the contrast of the coldness of her skin against the warmth in her eyes as the start of a friendship was tenderly formed.

**How was the young Aurora to know that the introduction that had just taken place, was just the beginning of the end of her own** _**humanity** _ **.**

**Author's Note:**

> Just a little heads up, Aurora is implied to be on the spectrum, loosely based on my experiences with being autistic.


End file.
